Gas griddle



Patented Dec. 8, 1942 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE GAz i zlLE John Bergliolm, Chicago, Ill. Application January 20, 1940, Serial No. 314,785

1 Claim.

This invention relates to gas griddles of a type extensively used in restaurants, hotels, drug stores, etc., where food is prepared; and the general object of the invention is to produce a griddle of this type of neat and attractive appearance, durable and compact construction, and eillcient and satisfactory in service wherever employed.

Other more specific objects are, to provide an improved griddle of the kind mentioned having both automatic and manually-controlled means for the frying, cooking and heating .of foods, to provide a griddle of this type with improved means by which the grill top temperature is caused to act on the gas supply, resulting in a prompt response of th thermostat to balance the temperature of the grill top plate with the temperature setting on the thermostat dial, to provide a griddle which may conveniently be assembled in one, two or more laterally adjacent sections, any or all of which may be in use at the same time, to provide a multiple grid grill wherein one grid may be gas heated for cooking and an adjacent grid may be heated by conduction from the gas heated grid for the purpose of keeping previously cooked food hot until served, and to provide a griddle wherein the burners, thermostats, air and gas leads, and other operating parts are entirely enclosed and concealed, thereby effecting a low cost of operation and insuring greater safety to the user, as well as presenting a neat and pleasing appearance.

Still other objects and attendant advantages of the invention will be apparent to persons skilled in the art from the following detailed description of an illustrative embodiment thereof shown in the accompanying drawings, in which- Fig. 1 is a perspectitve view of a twin griddle as seen from the front.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view with the heating plate and front cover removed to disclose underlying parts, and with the side walls in horizontal section.

Fig. 3 is a front elevation, with the upper panel of the front wall removed and the frontcover in vertical longitudinal section.

Fig. 4 is a front-to-rear vertical section, taken on the line 44 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged sectional detail, taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 6 is a perspective elevation, showing the thermostat and the parts leading thereto and served thereby.

Fig. 7 is a section'on line 1-! of Fig. 2.

The rectangular housing of the griddle comprises a front panel ll, side panels ll, back panel i2, '8. front thermostat panel l3, and a front cover It. The side panels II are connected and spaced at their lower corners by front and rear channels I 5 and I6 (Fig. 4), the latter of which may be an integral extension of the back panel l2. A heavy steel plate ll constitutes the top heating plate of the griddle. It will be observed by reference to Figs. 1 and 4 that the plate I1 is countersunk slightly below the upper edges of the side walls H and cover II, and its rear end.

overhangs the upper end of the back panel l2.

The griddle herein shown is a twin griddle, and the top heating plate I! is preferably made as a single horizontal plate of uniform thickness, one half of which serves one griddle and the other half serves the other, a spacing bar I8 separating their top surfaces. The structure is supported on four legs l9, which are attached to the side panels ll, back panel l2 and cross channels I 5 and I6.

In Fig. 2 is shown a gas supply T 20 which is connected through the back panel l2 with an oblique gas supply pipe 2|. A reducer 22 connected to the delivery end of pipe 2| and into a T 23 divides the gas flow, in the case of a twin griddle burner assembly, into two streams flowing in opposite directions through tubes 24 which, in turn, have their terminals in L's 25 which are tapped into thermostat bodies 26 that are mounted in the thermostat panel l3. The

thermostats 25 are of a known commercial structure and by their use the amount of gas to be released to the burner or burners at any given time is determined automatically. The burner may also be manually set to yield a desired degree of heat by a knob 21 on the front end of the thermostat body that projects through the front wall panel l3 and cooperates with a dial 21' mounted on plate 21 The gas releas d from the thermostat flows through an L 28 in a gas header manifold 29, two such manifolds being shown in Figs. 2 and 3, one serving one half of the griddle plate I! and the other serving the other half. Referring to Figs. 1 and 6, from each manifold 29 rise short tubes 30, each of which connects into a horizontal tube 3| that supplies gas to the usual bell-shaped air and gas mixer 32 on the front end of a burner tube 33 that underlies the heating plate ll. The rear end of each burner tube 33 is supported upon and bolted to a flange l2 on the upper end of the rear panel l2 of the housing (Fig. 4).

Underlying each half of the burner plate I1, I

have herein shown three straight parallel burner tubes 33; and associated with each group of bumers is a pilot consisting of atube 34 which receives its gas supply from a thermostat 28 and at its rear end connects into a T 35. from which extend branch pilot tubes 33 and 31 underlying the rear ends of a group of burner tubes.

Each gas header manifold 23 is conveniently supported by brackets 33 (Fig. 3) bolted at their lower ends to the channel l5.

The front panel l has a plurality of sizeable openings 33 (Fig. 3) permitting access of free air to the combustion chamber under the plate I1; and ready access to the burners 33 and pilot tubes 34, 35, 38 and 31 is obtainable through these openings.

Each of the side walls II, which is preferably made integral by means of welding with the front panel I0 and the thermostat panel [3, is formed with an inverted channel top edge 40 (Fig. 1) which is fitted to the top of plate I1, and made tight on the plate by means of a cement filling such as 4|. The front panel I0 is likewise provided with an inverted channel top edge 42 (Fig. packed with cement filling 4|. This prevents grease on the plates l'l running off at the front and side edges. The front end of plate I! is secured in place, as shown in Fig. 5, by bolts 43 which extend through the plate II, the filling 4|, a metal covering strip 44 overlying the filling 4|, and the top wall of the inverted channel 42, the head of the bolt being countersunk in the latter. This construction provides grease-tightjoints at the front and sides of the cooking plate [1.

The cover member 14 has its top wall formed with a downwardly bent flange 45, which hooks over the inverted channel 42, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5; the top wall of the cover l4 resting on the forward upper edges of the side panels II,

and its lower edge having an inwardly directed flange 46 that abuts against the front edges of the side walls, as shown in Fig. 4. 0n the ends of the cover member l4 are transverse flanges i4 (Fig. 1) that overlap the upper front corners of the side panels II. This cover member I4 is readily removable to permit access to the stems 41 (Fig. 4) of the gas cocks of the burners. Griddles of this type are in service: all day and most of the night, so that the gas is ordinarily turned on and shut ofl but once in twenty-four hours, and that can be accomplished handily by slightly tilting up the cover l4.

At the rear end of .the griddle is a U-shaped holder 48 in which is mounted a removable basin 49 for catching grease running of! the rear end of plate I! and guided into the pan by a drip edge ill on a cross bar 50 that supports the rear edge of plate II. The inner wall of the basin 49 is formed with a back splash and greasedeflector plate edge or flange 5|.

In each section of the griddle top plate i1 is a longitudinal bore 52 (Fig. 4), in which is inserted a thermostat bulb 53. The bulb 53 is filled with an expansible liquid and its forward end is continuous with a reduced pipe pline 54 that extends through a cement packing 53' down into the thermostat casing 26 and communicates with the lower end of a bellows 53 (Fig. 6), which latter in turn actuates a valve 83 that controls the outflow of gas through the L 23. As the heat of plate i'l increases, the outflow of gas to the underlyingbumers is restricted; and as the temperature of the plate falls, the reverse action takes place, the valve 58 is opened, and more gas is supplied to the burners. By this device the temperature of the plate I1 is maintained substantially constant at the figure shown by the thermostat dial; but this constant can be increased or diminished by manual manipulation of the dial knob 21 of.the thermostat.

By making the two grid sections of the top griddle plate II in a single integral plate of heatconducting material such as steel, an important functional advantage is secured in a multiple plate griddle such as that herein shown. By lighting the burners of one section 'of the plate, the food may be cooked. The other section of the plate is heated by conduction from the cooking plate and without igniting its underlying bumers, and it thus serves as a receptacle for ate jets to burn to the exclusion of the forward jets. This is due to a non-uniform distribution or dispersion of the fuel throughout the full length of the tube. I have found that this condition may be remedied by inserting a pin 63 (Fig. 7) across the receiving end of the tube, which divides and spreads the inflowing current of fuel uniformly throughout the interior of the tube.

The combustion gases escape readily to the atmosphere through vent holes 51 in the side panels II, and the space between the flange i2 on the top edge of rear panel l2 and the griddle plate i1.

It will be obvious that various immaterial changes and modifications may be made in the device shown and described without departing from the spirit of the invention or sacrificing any of the advantages thereof. Hence, I do not limit the invention to the exact form, construction, anrangement and combination of parts herein described, except to the extent clearly indicated in the specific claim.

I claim:

In a gas griddle of the class described, the combination with a rectangular housing having front and side walls, of a griddle plate mounted in said housing with its front and side edges in contact with said walls, a burner tube underlying said plate with its air mixer and gas cook stem extending through and supported by said front wall,"a'panel mounted on the front of'said housing, a control valve mounted in said panel through which gas is supplied to said burner tube, and a removable front cover member in hooked engagement with the top edge of said front wall of the housing and overlying and concealing the air mixer and gas cook stem.

JOHN BERGHOLM. 

